


Forgiveness Isn't About What People Deserve

by Helholden



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Friendship, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-13
Updated: 2014-05-13
Packaged: 2018-01-24 16:10:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1611314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Helholden/pseuds/Helholden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bellamy helps Clarke face her mom after she helped him face Chancellor Jaha. Post 1x08.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Forgiveness Isn't About What People Deserve

**Author's Note:**

> **Author's Notes:** A fulfilled tumblr prompt. I hope you all enjoy!

* * *

 

“They want to talk to both of us, Clarke,” Bellamy told her, giving her a pointed look.

 

Clarke shot him one right back. She had enough of the comm systems today, and she wanted to be left alone in peace. Right now, she was stocking stores with Jasper and Monty. When she turned to the two of them for help, both boys immediately looked away from her and pretended they hadn’t heard a thing. Their hands went back to work with packing the coolers, and Clarke rolled her eyes. _Traitors_ , she thought.

 

“Fine,” Clarke agreed, slapping down the pack in her hands on top of a cooler. She brushed her hands on her jeans, standing up from her seat.

 

Bellamy waited at the opening of the dropship for her. She followed him out, but he walked a step behind her and allowed her to the lead the way. Clarke knew where the comm system was set up. It was just around the corner in one of the tents.

 

She pushed aside the flap, felt her eyes grow wide, and immediately backed up.

 

Clarke bumped smack into Bellamy.

 

She turned around to face him, shaking her head fiercely. “ _No_ , no, Bellamy,” Clarke protested, pointing a finger at his face. “I’m not talking to her. I already told you—”

 

Bellamy raised his hand and gently pushed Clarke’s hand aside by the wrist. He raised his eyebrows at her. His face was still bruised, dark purple blossoming across the side of his cheek. Clarke stared up at him, wondering what he was getting at. This wasn’t funny, but she was finding it hard to be mad at him.

 

“You told me,” Bellamy began, “to speak to Jaha. And I did. With you, at my side. You helped me when you didn’t have to.” He tilted his head as he looked down at her, a sympathetic expression marking his features. “You need to talk to your mom, Clarke.”

 

“I don’t _want_ to talk to her,” Clarke bit out from between her teeth. She could feel the desperation welling up beneath the surface. This was not the time. This was not the place.

 

“I’ll sit with you,” Bellamy offered calmly. He gestured towards the tent with his head. “I’ll go in there and sit right beside you. Just like you did with me.”

 

Clarke felt the tears welling in her eyes. “Bellamy—”

 

“You need to do this for you,” Bellamy told her. He shook his head. “Not for your mom. For you.”

 

Clarke wanted to protest with him. She wanted to run away in the opposite direction, but she couldn’t be mad at Bellamy for wanting to help her. She was willing to take the risk with him, but she didn’t want to take the risk with her mom. _What does that say about me?_ Clarke thought, but she pushed away the thought as soon as it came.

 

Finally, she lowered her head. A single tear escaped her eye, and Clarke quickly wiped it away. She didn’t even want Bellamy to see that. Clarke didn’t cry in front of anyone. She nodded her head slowly.

 

“Okay,” she agreed, feeling her voice crack.

 

She turned her back to Bellamy, facing the entrance to the tent. Clarke took a deep breath in and out, trying to calm the pounding of her heart at the prospect of seeing her mom again. Instinctively, she reached back and grasped Bellamy’s hand. She squeezed it hard, needing something solid to hold onto for sanity’s sake.

 

Bellamy didn’t react at first, but then his hand clasped hers back.

 

Clarke walked forward into the tent.

 

Her mom was already there on the screen, headset on, and waiting for her. Abby took notice of Bellamy behind Clarke, and then her eyes lowered to their hands. A funny look crossed Abby’s face, but then she was focused on Clarke again.

 

Clarke took a seat, letting go of Bellamy’s hand. She looked up at him, and he nodded his head down at her, taking the seat beside her. Together, they donned separate headsets.

 

Abby smiled tearfully through the screen. “Hello, Clarke,” she said.

 

“Hi, mom,” Clarke responded softly.

 

“How are things going down there?” Abby inquired simply, trying to initiate conversation. Clarke thought that would be easy, so she began to tell her mom of their plans to reinforce the wall, the stocking they were doing on food for the winter, and how Monty and Raven were working on making an alarm system for the camp as a security measure. Abby grinned through it all.

 

When Clarke finally ran out of things to say, Abby looked to Bellamy. “So,” she said, clearing her throat. She spoke a little louder than before. “Are you keeping her in line?”

 

Clarke glanced over at Bellamy. He had raised his eyebrows. “Um,” Bellamy started to say, glancing over at Clarke, “more like she keeps me in line.”

 

Abby smiled once more. “Sounds like my Clarke.”

 

Clarke looked between Bellamy and her mother. She began to shake her head. “We’re not . . . Mom, we’re not—”

 

“ _No_ ,” Bellamy said suddenly, getting at what Clarke was saying. “No, oh, no. Yeah, we’re not—”

 

“—Together,” Clarke finished. She shook her head again. “No,” she added finally.

 

Abby looked surprised. “Oh, well,” she said, “I just thought with the way you two were holding hands—”

 

“ _No_ ,” Clarke said more forcefully, looking over at Bellamy for backup.

 

Bellamy looked at her, too. “Yeah, no,” he added, looking confused and a little uncomfortable at this turn of conversation. “That was just—”

 

“—Support,” Clarke finished firmly, turning her gaze back to her mother. “Bellamy was trying to help me with you, the same way I helped him with Chancellor Jaha.”

 

“Ah,” Abby said softly, “I see.” She was quiet for a moment, looking down from Clarke’s eyes. “Clarke, if you’re not ready to forgive me—”

 

“I’m not,” Clarke said immediately.

 

Abby was silent again. She swallowed before she spoke again. “That’s okay,” she told her. “I understand.” She raised her eyes to Clarke. There were tears glistening in her eyes. “I just wanted to talk to you and see how you were doing, and I wanted to say I love you very much, Clarke.”

 

Clarke felt the ice in her heart melt away slightly, but she was still not ready. She wasn’t ready to forgive, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t return the words, too.

 

“I love you, too, Mom,” Clarke admitted, and then it was all too much. She took off her headset, feeling the familiar sting behind her eyes. “Now, I have work to do—”

 

“ _Clarke_ —” her mom said through the speakers.

 

“Clarke—” Bellamy said at the same time.

 

Clarke pushed out of the tent into the sunshine, raising her face to the sun and breathing in deep. She felt his presence behind her before she heard him say anything. His hand was on her arm. “Clarke—”

 

She opened her eyes, turning around to face him. Her motion removed his hand from her, but Clarke extended her own hand to touch his arm as well. It never crossed her mind how comfortable they were with touching each other, but here they were, doing it yet again. She smiled at him, gripping his bicep slightly.

 

“Thank you, Bellamy,” Clarke said softly. There was genuine tone to her voice, but Bellamy’s eyes were dark and full of questions.

 

“Anytime, Clarke,” he told her, and she removed her hand from his arm. Clarke turned away from him and walked through the camp, feeling the sunlight on her face and hair. She felt the presence of eyes on her back, though, and that caused her to stop.

 

Slowly, she turned around to look.

 

Bellamy was gone, though. However, Clarke lifted her chin, stood up on her toes, and spotted him through the crowd. He was walking in the opposite direction. Clarke waited still in place. She could have sworn he had watched her go. She had felt a pair of eyes on her back. _Who else could it have been?_ she wondered.

 

But he never stopped to turn around and look, so Clarke sighed and turned her back on him. She continued her trudge through the camp.

 

When she was no longer gazing his way, Bellamy stopped and glanced back. He didn’t see Clarke either, and with a heavy appearance taking over his features, he turned away.

 

 


End file.
